Smash It Up

Blow Up #1 's subjects are flowers that are flashed frozen using liquid nitrogen and made to explode. What is captured is a frame of flowers mid-explosion. The concept is a mixture of beauty and death or violence. The floral composition is centered in the frame. Color is an important element in this piece. There is a black background, with very colorful flowers. The exploding colors are fragments of beauty against the black background.

On the 31st of July, the Brisbane Bayside State College Drama students viewed the production ‘Slammed’ by crosstown artists at the Brisbane Powerhouse. The production was performed by the Brisbane based production company, Crosstown Artists. Crosstown Artists strive to produce and promote a range of quality artistic works with fiscal sustainability. From graffiti to hip hop to burlesque to poetry, Crosstown Artists passionately provide extraordinary opportunities for performers through their outstanding productions. ‘Slammed’ is directed by John Peek and focuses on real life issues that teenagers face daily. The extended response will examine and analyse the dramatic elements and conventions used throughout this thought provoking and engaging performance.

Briggs, A. (ed.) (1959) Chartist Studies, London, Macmillan cited in Making Sense Of The Arts – Resource Booklet 1, (2011) Milton Keynes, The Open University, P36.

The history of the Situationist movement is critical into understanding how street art can be used as a political weapon to enact social change. Like Banksy, the Situationists believed in superseding art, which abolishes the notion of art as a separate, specialized activity and transforms it into the cultural fabric of everyday life. Street art accompanies an element of surprise and culture shock because it can appear anywhere. People do not have to visit a museum or gallery to see art. Moreover, he adopts the Situationist’s methods of detournement, which is the act of taking an existing form of media and creating a new piece of art with a different message behind it. In particular, Banksy’s Les Misérables' mural is a representative form of deceptive detournement, which takes an intrinsically significant element and places it into a new context. Tear gas surrounds her and the French flag is torn to signify the values of liberty and freedom being destroyed. This is one of several Banksy’s murals that are reminiscent to the Syrian refugee

In the Australian play The Removalists (David Williamson, 1972) and a series of posters titled Explaining Away Violence (designed by Fabrica, released by World Health Organisation) the composers, David Williamson and Fabrica use the use of language in different ways to portray significant themes and ideas. The foremost themes and ideas featured and explored in each text are related to violence and conflict. The set text The Removalists can be classified as a ‘black comedy’ as it originates from situations that are not conceived as humorous, it has an uncomfortable composition that has a tragic outcome. The related text however is a series of eight posters called ‘Explaining Away Violence,’ each of the eight posters displays a victim of violence

If you head towards downtown New York City--towards the old, brick buildings where artists of all kind seem to flock--you may stumble upon on of the many experimental theatre groups that call this area their home. While their numbers grow everyday, few stand out from the crowd. The one that stood out to me was The Mad Ones. This company is “dedicated to creating visceral, ensemble-driven, highly detailed theatrical experiences that examine and illuminate American nostalgia” (“The Mad Ones,” 2018). Not only does it sound like theatre that I want to see, but it has a deeper message and motivation in not only one if its shows, but all of them. In this paper, I will be examining the history of The Mad Ones, including

Bryan-Wilson argues that while the threat violence is ever present, the performance does not embody violence. Instead, she emphasises the giving elements of the performance downplaying

In the article “The Return to Ritual: Violence and Art in the Media Age” by Jacob Siebers the world of violence through art and the cultural influence surrounding it is being examined. According to Siebers traumatic artworks have “something active in them that is more difficult to capture” (5). The art examples in the article are presented in the form of a bullet wound to the head and a half sliced pig suspended in formaldehyde. The subject of trauma art is not focused on a specific aspect, but rather what is disturbingly beautiful to the artist.

Banksy once said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Banksy, the director of Exit Through the Gift Shop, a documentary that goes through the heart of street art strongly emphasizes that art is not about money, but rather about expression and passion. He supports his argument mainly through his strong visual and audio tactics. Visuals are much stronger than any other sense. A reoccurring factor that influences the viewer’s thoughts towards the argument is where Banksy focuses the video.

Although controversial, the young British artists (YBAs) featured in Charles Saatchi's 1997 exhibition Sensation, utilised the media-savvy nature of their patron to expose a plethora of political, social and economic concerns. However, conservative critic, Julian Stallabrass, underestimates their form of ethically significant, transgressive art as "little more than an inflated PR exercise" (1998, p. 10). Hence, his unconventional review of Sensation, High Art Lite at the Royal Academy (Stallabrass, 1998), insufficiently argues that the collective is fundamentally disingenuous due to their portrayal of Britain's working class culture, and their adoption by high art institutions (pp. 79- 84).

Transgressive art, as Anthony Julius describes it, is “a sin, a super crime, an offence against God” (Julius, 2002 p:16). He argues that transgression defines a state of rebellion, a violation and a disobedience of rules and laws, which results out of the enthusiasm of wrong doings and going against the appropriate and acceptable behaviours (ibid). Julius (2002) argues that by breaking the law, there is a positive liberation of cultural restrictions we rejoice in, and in that we truly reveal a form of gracefulness. Nonetheless, transgressions can be the best and the worst kinds of law breaking, a work of transgression can be great in the power it holds, yet it could be interpreted as a poor insult at the cost of the artist and his audience (Julius, 2002). Although artworks sometimes do not specifically break or violate any laws or rules to be classified as transgressive, however, it violates the person viewing it, the audience, by aggravating them and causing them to feel offence, to go against their beliefs, lifestyles, or depict contradictions visible in their cultures (Julius, 2002). Julius (2002) argues that transgression disrupts “discourse’s or style’s smooth unbroken surface…used to refer to any exceeding of boundaries” (p:18). It is also argued that transgressive artwork has political agendas, to contradict stereotypes and the self-contained by producing openness and progressiveness, yet they are brief matters that live momentarily and do not pursue to eliminate laws

Graffiti composing and street art are regularly mistaken for each other. Both are subversive craftsmanship developments where work is shown in broad daylight as opposed to an exhibition setting. While graffiti specialists put their work in broad daylight, as a rule they are not intrigued by people in general comprehension their work; they need to address other graffiti craftsmen. Road craftsmen need everybody to see and be locked in by their work. They are attempting to create an impression. Graffiti composing and road workmanship are firmly related contemporary craftsmanship developments; be that as it may, they vary regarding strategy, capacity and expectation. Graffiti is as old as human progress. Graffiti is the importance of drawings or

In 1953, Robert Rauschenberg had the idea of adding drawing to his All White Series. However, drawing on these paintings, or anywhere, would defeat the purpose of this series, and so he came to the conclusion that the only way he could achieve this would be through erasure. He began experimenting with his own drawings, but still being a young artist it he didn’t think it would be considered art. For his idea to work, he thought, it had to be art that he erased. Having admiration and respect for artist Willem de Kooning, Rauschenberg decided to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels, and go to his house. Rauschenberg explained to de Kooning his idea, and asked if he could use a drawing of his. Reluctant, de Kooning agreed, only because he understood the idea. After looking through his portfolios, de Kooning handed Rauschenberg a drawing that he would miss, and that was almost impossible to erase. A month later, Rauschenberg successfully erased de Kooning’s drawing, and with the help of Jasper Johns, titled the piece in ink, and framed it. Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing can be seen as either a minimalist piece or conceptual piece. Through a clearer understanding of both movements, the aim of this essay is to show how this piece could be seen as a minimal piece or a conceptual piece, and to see which movement it leans more towards.

The reworking and regeneration of already existing cultural works through the processes of borrowing, stealing, recycling, appropriating and collaging has become a dominant creative strategy in contemporary art and design, particularly fortified by Postmodernity. Martino Gamper, sister duo Soda_Jerk and Glenn Brown are significant artists in this ‘remix culture’ that redefine the way the world is perceived through the reproduction and recyclability of their works and the works of others.

There is no doubt that art has the power to transcend life. But artist themselves have had the daunting tasks, as historical scribes, to record time, space, and attitudes in their works. The “Capitalist Realism” movement is no different - if not one of the best examples of this visual history.